Haptephobia
by LinkIsMyHero
Summary: Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out. -Karl Menninger  Series of one-shots in which Light helps L overcome his fears. LxLight LightxL


_Mysophobia – fear of germs, contamination or dirt_

_CRASH!_

"Dammit, L!"

Light looked at the broken china cup on the floor, the small porcelain pieces scattered about and the sickeningly sweet tea, already staining the carpet.

"I am sorry Light-kun, it seems my fine motor skills are poor today."

"That is the _third _cup you have dropped today! If you can't grab the thing properly from my hand, then stop asking me to get it for you!"

"I apologized Light-kun, what else do you want from me?" L said as Light retrieved the broom and dustpan and began to once again sweep up the jagged bits of white glass.

"There is nothing to be done about something that was an accident."

L's face was devoid of emotion as always, but there was a hint of huffiness in his voice that caused Light to chuckle.

"What is so funny, Light-kun?" L asked, his voice now clearly cross.

"Nothing, nothing. I accept your apology, _again_, but I think that something must be done about this problem. Pretty soon we will be completely out of cups and the carpet will look like a Dalmatian with all of the spots on it." He emptied the dustpan into the trash and returned the set to the nearby closet before standing in front of L.

L's eyes narrowed. He did not like being laughed at or spoken to in a way that made him feel he was inept.

"And what would you propose Light-kun? Shall I do finger exercises? Perhaps get cups with grips on them for better traction?"

Light looked at L impatiently as if having to wait out a child's tantrum, which was roughly what was happening.

"Of course not, L. You simply need grab the cup with your entire hand rather than the bare minimum of hand contact."

Light gave L a patronizing look as he grabbed his cup of tea at his desk station, letting his long slender fingers encircle the whole cup, lifting it to his lips and taking a small sip. L wondered at how Light made holding a cup seem graceful, but brought his mind back to his current situation as Light held out another cup to him.

L looked at Light defiantly.

"The less contact I make with objects exposed to all kinds of bacterium and germs, the less likely I am to be contaminated with it."

"L, people touch things that are full of germs everyday. Door handles, telephones, silverware. But they stay relatively healthy, you can't go through life avoiding everything with germs on it."

L turned back to his computer.

"I assure you Light-kun, I can."

Light sighed before he moved out of L's peripheral vision. He heard nothing and could not focus his mind on the task at hand because something about Light's sigh had made him nervous. If he would just go back to his se—.

Light stood behind L's chair, his arms extended past either side of the detective's head, and his hand took hold of L's pale one.

"What are you doing, Light-kun?"

L tried to remove his hand from Light's grasp, but Light kept his warm hand firmly atop L's.

Light used his other hand to place a beautiful China glass next to L's keyboard.

"Now," Light said patiently, "this cup is worth roughly 7,000 yen. It is a piece from my grandmother's antique set that she gifted to my family for my parents' wedding. If it were to be broken, it would be very upsetting."

L looked at him. Light would have thought him completely unaffected except for the slight twitch in his eyelid that assured Light he was seething with rage."

"Yes, alright Light-kun. I see you have a very nice cup. Is there any possible way you can remove yourself from my person and let me continue my work now?"

Light gave the dark-haired man a small smile before returning his attention to L's captured hand.

"Now, you are going to pick this cup up, with your whole hand, and drink from it."

"This is childish Light, I don't need t—"

"And I am going to help you. Germs are a part of life. We are constantly exposed to them, but that is why our bodies are built to constantly deal with bacteria and not all of it is bad."

L leveled a stare at Light for a bit.

"There is a 46% chance Light-kun is doing this to feel superiority over the detective L. Kira would also relish in feeling power over L."

Light glared at L before firmly, but gently, guiding L's hand to the cup.

"Light-kun is aware that I can easily remove his hand while also causing significant damage to his person."

Light let out an obnoxiously pleasant laugh.

L was appalled at Light's behavior. He had no idea why Light cared so much about his precaution against contamination. And Light's patient, gentle manner was starting to get on his nerves. He did not need to be coddled like a child. Moreover he was uncomfortable with Light's proximity.

"Very well, Light-kun. I will grasp the cup as directed. Please remove your and from mine."

The chestnut-eyed boy stared into L's to make sure he was not lying, he gave a nod of acknowledgement and released L's hand, stepping back and crossing his arms while waiting.

L felt the tremor return to his hands. It was strange. Every time Light stared at L, he ended up with shaking hands. It was such a strange reaction, L didn't know how to deduce it's reasoning. But somehow when Light had his hand on L's it had stopped. L was lost in thought and Light grew impatient.

He cleared his throat and inclined his head towards the cup.

"Ahh yes, of course."

L took a small breath to ease the strange knot in his chest. He made a show of wrapping all of his fingers securely around the cup, lifting it to his mouth and taking a sip. He didn't understand why it was so important to Light that he get used to touching things more, but if it kept Light at his own workstation, he would grip his cup with his whole hand.

Light gave a small smile of approval and returned to his seat.

"Light-kun?"

"Yes, L?"

"How did Light-kun get ahold of one of his grandmother's antique china cups?"

"What? Oh, that's not my grandmothers, I just found it in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets and figured you wouldn't recognize it."

Light laughed at L's twitching eyelid before returning to his work.

What an interesting day it turned out to be.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own DeathNote, or it's characters. I just use them for my personal puppets. :D

Hello hello!

It's been awhile since I've been able to write something for !

I know that one-shots based on fears is not an _especially_ original idea, but I figured I could use these to stretch my writing muscles out again, so please bear with me. :3

And the characters are kind of OOC, but sometimes I like something a little fluffy for these guys. Anyways, I'll be gradually adding to this as time and creativity allow me to. Please leave a review with comments, constructive criticism, or requests for a fear. Thank you so much for reading!

**-LinkIsMyHero**


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